The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1887-12-22
FOR THE FARMER.
Progress in the Science of Veterinary
Practice-How Quaclzs Formerly
Thrived.
Distribution of Manure to be Beneficial
Profits in Cattle-Winter Care of
Cows.
VETERINARY oUACKERY.

DistrIou1ion OF manure to be Beneflciai-
Profits in CattIe-Winter Care of
Cows.
VETERINARY QUACKERY.
DIR. +. l.. Kilhorne, in Il cOmmunica-
tion on this subject in the Rurai Neao
Yorker, writes: The rapid advance
ment made in the science of veterinary
practice within the past few years has
done much toward doing away with
some OF the enormous stock of
veterinary quackery throughout the
| country, The various veterinary
schools of this country and Canada
yearly graduate several hundred
young men; while not a few of the
graduates of the foreign schools come
to this country to locate in practice.
But even with the yearly addition of
this large number to our regular
practitioners,th quack thrives in many
places. His operations, however, are
mostly confined to small towns and
rural districts. There we still have
men who, in their ignorance. persist
in calling various diseases of cattle by
the very significant CD name of
.hollow-horn" or .'horn all" and treat
the cases in the approved ''cow-doctor"
style of boring the horns and filling
them with turpentine, pepper, or other
equally irritating and injurious agents
to torture the poor animal In many
cases the treatment is worse than the
disease itself, and it is a wonder that
so many cases recover under such bar
barous treatment Another will find
''wOlf-in the tail" and the tail must be
forthwith split and bound up in salt,
pepper, tobacco, or ashes. If the
patient is so unfortunate as to be sick,
and the quack so learned CD that he
can find both ''hollow-horn" and s'wolf-
in-the-tail, her case is indeed a sore
one. The disease is then said to reach
) from her horns to the end of her tail,
and in addition to the above treat
ment she must have the whole length
of her back rubbed with soft-soap, tur-
pentine, wet woOd-ashes, or with some
mysterious mixture which the quack
will prepare himself in the manner of
the ''lndian medicine-man."
Possibly a COW may not be credited
with having either of these diseases,
but has simply ''lost her cud;" where
or how it was lost they do not attempt
to explain. In fact it is against their
principles to explain anything, except
to deepen the mystery surrounding the
case and impress their hearers with
their own Importance. For the loss of
cud they proceed to collect some elder,
wild cherry, or other suitable shrubs,
scrape the inner bark, and mix the
scrapings with herbs and molasses to
form mass the size of the closed fist
or larger. This artificially- prepared,
mystic cud is then placed we'll back in
the cows mouth, with the expectation
that it will take the place of the lost
cud; that the animal will Immediately
begin to ruminate as usual, and that a
speedy recovery may be looked for.
Suffice it to say their expectations are
never realized, except by accident, as
it were.
One unusually self-conceited quack
of my acquaintance confines his opera
tions almost entirely to horses, and his
treatment is almost always mercurial
blisters. A ringbone, spawn, puff, or
other swelling will always receive a
severe blistering; so also with case of
pneumonia, sore throat, CHAMBERS,
collie, or indigestion. He claims to
have made many wonderful cures, in
cluding several cases of glanders Ga
feat no veterinarian has ever accom-
are constantly dying on his hands,
his self-conceit will always prevent his
seeing the folly of his course of treat
ment.
Like all other quacks. he is a firm
believer in the theory that the pressure
of the harmless little wolf-teeth in the
mouth of the horse is injurious to and
causes disease of the eyes. If young
I,,e l. A.
he is very liable to have when cutting
the large mnlars or grinders of his
upper Jaw. the wolf-teeth are looked
for, and if present are ruthlessly
knocked out, to cure a disease for
which they are in no way responsible.
If the wolf-teeth are not present, and
the haw partially covers the eye, as
the result OF more or less infiamma-
ton Causing the so-called ''nooks in
the eyes") this important membrane is
cut out, very injurious as well as
barbarous practice. The ''horse
doctor" has never read a standard
work on veterinary science, and he
has no regard for the opinions of any
veterinarian which differs from his own
set opinions Such is the self-conceit
and 0igotry which most quacks add to
their ignorance. They pretend to
know all about the diseases of animals
and their treatment, when in fact they
know little or nothing. 1t was quack
whc prescribed dose of one-half pint
of croton oil for a sick horse, and was
only prevented from having his order
carried out by the refusal of the
druggist to fill such prescription.